Why the Signing of Deondrick Glass is so Important

On the first day of the late signing period, Oklahoma State officially locked down one of the most important pieces of their 2019 recruiting class; four-star running back Deondrick Glass.

While it wasn’t a surprise that Glass signed with the Cowboys — he made a verbal commitment to OSU on national television back in January — the coaching staff was able to let out a sigh of relief that the player they had worked long and hard to land was officially part of the roster.

While one talented running back isn’t likely to change the trajectory of the Oklahoma State program, there is something about Glass’ signing that feels... different. Bigger. That it has a lot of meaning.

For one thing, there’s the “on the field” impact. Oklahoma State lost one of the five best running backs to ever don the orange and black early to the NFL. They also lost a very talented — and underutilized — back to transfer. Suddenly, a position that once felt like a strength had some real concerns.

Oklahoma State has a true No. 1 guy in redshirt sophomore Chuba Hubbard. Behind him though is a group of three runners — LD Brown, Jamyl Jeter, Ryan Haymaker — who combined for 200 yards and one touchdown on 42 carries during the 2018 season.

The addition of Dezmon Jackson from the JUCO ranks is a nice boost, but nothing like the talent they’ll be getting from Glass, who is an immediate impact player that should play at least three seasons. It also, very likely, gives OSU a lead-back-in-waiting if the worst case scenario happens and Chuba leaves early after the 2019 season (which he would be able to do).

While the on-field impact is big, off the field might be even more so. No, landing Glass won’t complete change the narrative of Gundy’s recruiting issues, but it has seemingly quieted the critics... for now.

Coach Gundy has repeatedly mentioned that the staff goes after talent like Glass, but over the past few years, has struggled to lock it down. In this case though, things broke the Cowboys’ way and OSU came away with an incredibly talented back, beating out some other blue blood programs that had offered him.

More importantly, all the hard work the Oklahoma State coaching staff has put into recruiting Glass, has paid off. Just over six months after a quote by athletic director Mike Holder put Mike Gundy’s recruiting practices into question, the Mullet gets the last laugh.

Not only is Glass the highest rated recruit of the 2019 class, he’s the highest rated running back to commit to OSU since 2014.

If Gundy is going to shut down the “can’t recruit” talk, he’ll have to do with with the 2020 class. Even with Glass’ commitment, the 2019 crop won’t finish better than 5th in the Big 12 and top 40 nationally. But, it’s good to see the class finish essentially on a high note, and hopefully, a sign of things to come for the Cowboys on the recruiting trail.